Venezuelan president meets with U.S. oil company over economic sanctions

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CARACAS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro met with top executives of U.S. oil giant Chevron to discuss the impact of economic sanctions imposed by Washington, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) said on Tuesday.

Maduro spoke with the president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production, Clay Neff, and Ali Moshiri, adviser to Chevron's CEO, to explore mechanisms that will lead to a continuation of the relationship between PDVSA and the U.S. firm, despite the sanctions.

The sanctions throw a wrench into joint operations "that had been developing very successfully," said PDVSA, which the sanctions directly target.

Maduro let Chevron know Venezuela is interested in preserving its "commercial ties" with the firm and "the Venezuelan state is interested in conserving foreign investment in the country," the company said. [ Following the announcement of the sanctions, Maduro called for a meeting with various U.S. companies that do business with Venezuela, saying that U.S. investors with significant investments and interests in oil, gas and other businesses are also affected.

On Aug. 25, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that "prohibits dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company" and also prohibits "dividend payments" to the South American country's government.

In announcing the sanctions, the White House said that these "measures are carefully calibrated" to deny the Maduro government "a critical source of financing" to maintain its rule.